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Modern Vinaya Precepts (Silly Spin-off Alert)

:!: This is a silly spin-off of the actually very interesting 'Ordination' thread.

Originally Posted by Kenneth

Hi Harry,

OK, I'll give it a go.

There were 250 monks precepts and 348 precepts for nuns. Let's assume the latter include the former and since we're all for equality here at Treeleaf let's assume those 348 rules apply to males and females for our purposes. I think the Buddha taught for about 45 years. Also let's assume 2500 years have gone by since then (since there is no real concensus on his dates of birth/death).

So, we have 348 / 45 = 7.73333 precepts / year.

2500 years * 7.73333 precepts / year = 19,333.333 precepts.

Hey, that's not too bad at all, in any case it's a lot less than 740,000 !

Who wants to think about what they may be and start typing them in for use at Treeleaf???

Gassho
Ken

Ok, here is the scenario:

The creation of Vinaya precepts did not cease after the Buddha’s death, but rather kept accumulating. As Harry and Ken have suggested, we are now at 19,333 in total. In order to help this important process along (and insure the legitimacy of ordained Monks), what additional Vinaya precepts should be added?

Paige refers to Dogen Zenji's very detailed instructions in the Shobogenzo for using the toilet, including wiping using small, damp clay balls about one inch in diameter, an ancient practice. I will be sure to cover that chapter of Shobogenzo sometime in the near future.

Paige refers to Dogen Zenji's very detailed instructions in the Shobogenzo for using the toilet, including wiping using small, damp clay balls about one inch in diameter, an ancient practice. I will be sure to cover that chapter of Shobogenzo sometime in the near future.

I prefer supermarket brand Charmin.

Gassho, J

I thought the 9 clay balls were for washing and the poop stick or paper were for wiping. I will have to re-read that chapter when I get back home. The brain is strange how it remembers things sometimes.

I thought the 9 clay balls were for washing and the poop stick or paper were for wiping. I will have to re-read that chapter when I get back home. The brain is strange how it remembers things sometimes.

Dear Jordan,

On further checking, I stand corrected. Although the passage (pun intended) is a bit obscure, I believe that seven (7) balls of soil are described for monks in the outdoors, and a lesser number are to be used for washing and drying the anus in the monastery after use of a stick (or series of sticks) "eight sun long (9.6 inches) of triangular section, and the thickness of a thumb, some lacquered and some not". (Senjo)

So, please do not trust anything I say in the future regarding the Shobogenzo, starting with the Genjo Koan we will discuss today.